The CSR Division of Service Excellence Training is growing. Brady Loudermilk and Todd Liles share some insights into what they are seeing from working with CSRs around the country.
We build challenges for ourselves.
Often Brandy encounters CSRs who feel isolated with the issues they are facing. It is powerful when the CSR or Dispatcher has an opportunity to see that they are not alone in the challenges they face. For example, every CSR has faced a price objection, it doesn’t matter if their diagnostic is $29 or $149, the price is not the issue.
CSR can become indoctrinated in how things are.
One of the most universal things Brandy sees is that CSRs who have been with the same company for a length of time, start to see the standard operating procedures at that company as the only way to do things.
There are two attitudes you can have to new ideas:
- That is exciting, how can we make that work here?
- That will never work here.
The 2nd attitude will leave you stagnant. If you want to grow you have to have an open mind to change.
An organized/ automated workflow gets more done.
CSRs often feel that they have more work to accomplish than they have time. One way to reduce this is to organize and automate the workflow. One example is to text or email club members about their upcoming maintenance visits instead of spending hours leaving voice mails that probably will not be returned.
Reducing the negative impacts of multitasking
A major challenge for CSRs when it comes to consistently delivering quality client service is the additional administrative tasks most CSRs have.
This additional work helps companies reduce the number of office staff needed to keep the company moving, and also gives the CSR tasks for when the phone calls are slower.
CSRs often resort to multitasking in order to get their admin tasks done and answer the phone at the same time.
One solution is using smart blocks of time when the phones are typically slower to have admin tasks accomplished.
Brandy shares a story of hearing a recorded call of herself when she was distracted by an admin task while taking a client call. This made her aware of the need to focus on one task at a time, and for a CSR the most important task is taking care of the client on the phone.
The joy of group brainstorming
Brandy recently spent 2 days onsite at Cathedral Plumbing of Texas teaching the PRESS PLAY for CSR series. Out of 20 students, only 7 of them were call takers. The big Ah-HA moment for the group was when the admin staff started brainstorming how they can improve their communication internally to improve client satisfaction externally.
This idea of finding ways to move past great service to exceptional service is what separates prospering companies from the pack.
Resources from this podcast:
Also, check out this great deal on a flat rate price book designed especially for plumbers by Marc Carrasco of Cathedral plumbing. It’s a great resource for those that need to get a price-book in place in a hurry and have a limited budget.
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